Aftermarket

Mack Announces Two Additional Weeks of Plant Shutdowns

In addition to the already-announced plant closings for the week of Oct. 2, Mack Trucks has announced two additional weeks of plant shutdowns to help balance truck inventories.

The additional closings are the weeks of Oct. 30 and Nov. 27. About 2,700 workers areaffected.Mack's vocational truck assembly plant in Macungie, Pa,. near Allentown, has been producing 64 trucks per day on one shift. The Winnsboro, S.C., plant, which builds the CH and CL highway models, turns out 72 trucks a day, also on a single shift.Winnsboro had been atwo-shift plant up until summer vacation shutdown in late July. The two plants turn out 680 trucks a week.Mack's engine and transmission plant in Hagerstown, Md., which manufactures 81 engines and 37 transmissions daily, will also be shut down for the same two weeks.

There is a lot of talk in the industry about the need for more technicians, but we continue to have a problem finding qualified techs and attracting new people to the industry, so we will have to continue to talk about it.

Truck manufacturers are moving to a business model that centers on maximized product uptime, or repairing equipment before it ever breaks down. Commentary by Aftermarket Contributing Editor Denise Rondini.

Dana has appointed a new senior director of strategy, product planning and program management for commercial vehicles as well as a new senior director of aftermarket sales, customer service, and marketing.